Days of Boom: Chapter 51
Joseph Mierek LI The Beginning of The End Amber and I stood on the prow of the Jolly Roger while John steered the ship south. After Dan's funeral I needed an excuse to get away. Two funeral's in two days was never a good thing... Unless you were the god of the dead. Dan's funeral was about the same as Nolan's. The only difference was that there was a body to burn. Dan's shroud was made of flame colored silk, it depicted a black anvil with a red 'A' in the center. Around the edge of the shroud "Daniel Redson: Son of Hephaestus, Father, Friend, Leader." Hephaestus himself lit Dan's funeral pyre. Only his flames were powerful enough to burn away Dan's body. I looked out across the endless sea of clouds until Amber placed her hand on my shoulder. "Joe, are you gonna be okay?" Amber asked. "I mean you could stay in Florida for a few days. I could get you VIP access to all the exclusive spots in Disney." I smiled politely and chuckled. "Thanks Amber, but I think I've had enough Disney world to last me for the next decade." Amber looked up at me, her eyes filled with hurt feelings. I took her hands and held them tightly. "I'm just kidding, I'll come down and visit you as soon as I can. But right now the League is in complete disarray and they're going to need my help to get everything back under control." Amber still looked hurt but she smiled and moved closer to me, resting her head aganist my chest. "Go do what you have to do Hero." She said pulling away from me. "But before you leave I have some thing for you." She rushed below deck and came back moments later. In her hands was a small object wrapped in a red velvet cloth. "This is a present from me." She handed me the object and I gingerly unwrapped it. Beneath the red cloth was a flat, silver surface decorated with a beautiful fleur de lis. I turned it over and found myself staring at my reflection. "It's a... mirror." I asked slightly confused. Amber crossed her arms and gave me a serious look. "This isn't any ordinary mirror, this is the Enchanted Mirror owned by Prince Adam a.k.a The Beast. It allows the viewer to see anything or anyone their heart desires. But I've modified it so that you can communicate with the person you are trying to see. It kinda like a toll-free Iris Message." "Wow Amber this is amazing... Let me guess, you created the mirror so I won't have an excuse for not calling you, right?" I asked slyly. "Uhh... well you said it not me." She said chuckling. I smiled and held the mirror up to the light. I placed the mirror in my back pocket but Amber snatched it away. "Hey careful! You're going to break it!" Amber scolded. "Here." She held up the mirror and it began to glow with a silver light. When the light died the mirror had transformed into a large silver bracelet. In the center was a smaller version of the mirror. Amber checked her reflection then placed the bracelet on my wrist. "You never cease to amaze me Amber." I said checking out my newest item. She looked up at me and gave me a small smile. I took her hands and pulled her close. "I'll see you soon okay?" We locked eyes and she kissed me. I allowed the winds to encircle me, lifting me off the deck. Slowly our lips drifted apart as I rose into the air I watched as the ship continued south and I stayed hovering in the same place. I waved to John as he passed by. Amber ran to the back of the ship and stared after me. Before they were out of sight I whistled at the top my lungs. I heard a faint yowl and saw Angel leap into the air from the crow's nest. For a second I lost sight of her until a humming bird began buzzing in my ear. "Remind me again why I can't take a vacation?" She complained as we turned north and started flying home. Normally I would've called for my motorcycle but the motor began malfunctioning after I surpressed the bomb's blast. "Because you are a member of the League, just like me, and they need as many of us on base as possible. All available members are being recalled. Team Omega is still in the field. Team Recon managed to escape the Labyrinth and make their way back yesterday. And we've almost figured out how to extract Team Delta from the pocket dimension." I explained. "Well it's going to be a long flight." Angel sighed transforming into a Peregrine Falcon. "Yep... You wanna get a drink?" "Thought you'd never ask!" "The usual place?" "Where else!?" We changed course, instead of heading back to HQ we flew into Manhattan. Even from across the harbor Mount Olympus shined like a torch above the Empire State Building. We landed at the edge of the mountain near the elevator entrance. Angel turned back into a cat and we began walking up the busy streets. We passed dozens of shops selling everything from herbs to ancient treasures. We turned down a side street until we came to a bar with a sign that read " The Dragon Head". We walked in and found the place was open for happy hour. The place was packed with demigods, cyclopes, satyrs, nymphs and minor gods. Angel climbed onto my shoulder as I pushed my way to the bar. I found an open bar stool and hollered, "Patrick!" Instantly a man appeared behind the bar. "Hey, hey, well if it isn't my favorite customers! Haven't seen you two in a while." Patrick McCabe was an old friend of mine from High School, he was also a son of Dionysus. He stands about five feet tall, with dark red hair, and a husky build. Pat had always wanted to open a bar so his father made a deal with him: If he could kill a monster alone, and with no weapons he would give him his dream bar. Pat managed to do just that, he found a large dragon that had been terrorizing northern California and strangled it to death with grape vines. When he opened the bar he had the dragon's head mounted and placed it above the bar where it still hangs. "So what's your pleasure?" He asked gesturing to the large display of drinks behind him. "A Shining Nectar for me and... she'll have the usual." I said and Pat rushed to the other end of the bar. He was back seconds later with a saucer of milk for Angel and a small glass full of glowing liquid. I took a drink and felt the warm and chilling sensation wash over my body. All the drinks at The Dragon's Head were mixed with Nectar, not only to make the drinks taste better, but to prevent the patrons from getting too drunk. A Shining Nectar is Nectar that is distilled into pure alcohol. "I knew I'd find you here." A familiar voice spoke. I turned and found Nolan pulling up a stool. He wearing a dark sweatshirt, baseball cap and sunglasses even though it was nearly eight o'clock. "Nolan, what in Hades are you doing here?" I asked leaning in close so no one would over hear our conversation. After Nolan miraculously turned up in Dan's hospital room he managed to indirectly tell us about his deal with Hades. He would basically start a sentence, we would finish it, and then he would tell us if we were right. "I've been looking for you. I have a possible lead on the Key-" "Hey buddy, no sitting at the bar unless you're having a drink." Patrick said appearing behind the bar again. Nolan calmly ordered a Golden Stag Ale and turned his attention back to me. "As I was saying. I have a possible lead on the Key monster and I need your help to track him down." Nolan finished taking a swig of his beer. He explained the details as I stared into my glass. I looked over my shoulder and found majority of the bar had emptied out. Only a handful of patrons were still lingering. "Alright, well let's finish our drinks and get going." I said when Nolan finished. "Cheers!" Nolan raised his glass to his lip, and started drinking. In one fluid motion I finished my drink, grabbed a silver knife from my belt and thrust it into Nolan's chest. His eyes flew open and he dropped his glass. He fell out of his stool and clutched his chest. Angel sprang to her feet and rushed next to him. Patrick appeared behind the bar again staring in horror at the dying body on his bar floor. The rest of the bar flies rushed out into the street. "Joe, what in Tartarus are you doing?!" They screamed. Both of you relax and take another look. They stared at me in shock then looked at Nolan's body... or what was left of it. On the floor were Nolan's clothes and a pile of golden dust, like the kind you find after you kill a monster. "What the- How- Why?" Pat said struggling for words. "Pat, Angel get out of here, now! Pat run to the palace and alert the gods. Angel get back to Headquarters and tell the others I maybe in trouble. And if you can get a hold of our old friend, he still owes me a favor from that time on Kodiak Island." I ordered. Pat nodded dashed out the back door. Angel stayed for a moment pleading me with her eyes. I cupped her face with my hands and stared her dead in the eye. "I will be fine. Go!" I shouted. She ran out the back door, gave me another look and took off. I stood up and sighed. "You can show your self now." I announced to the bar. From the shadows a man appeared. He wore a black jacket, dark pants, a turtle neck,and black leather gloves. His long black hair, was tied back in a pony-tail and twisted scars covered his face. "Hello Joseph." He said smoothly. "Prometheus." I growled. "What do you want? Haven't you tortured me and my team enough." "Tortured? I saw it more as research and valuable data collecting." He mused. At that point several light bulbs exploded as a result of my pent up anger. "Two of my friends died thanks to your research." I roared causing thunder to crash overhead. "Well only one of your friends is truly dead. I know the other, shall we say, made a deal with the devil. By the way, how did you know that, that was a clone?" Prometheus asked. "Simple, Nolan doesn't drink. As soon as he picked up that beer I knew it wasn't him." I explained. "What I didn't know, was that it was a clone..." Suddenly it dawned on me. "That's why you sent us after the bombs. You didn't just want us out of the way for awhile, you wanted our DNA!" Prometheus chuckled. "You're smarter than you look Mr. Mierek. Among other things that was one of my goals. I managed to gather a sample from each of you." "Well then I am definitely looking forward to a one-on-one fight to the death with my doppelganger." I said cracking my knuckles. A sly smile spread across Prometheus's face. "Unfortunately you won't be meeting him." He reached behind him and grabbed for something. When he turned his head I grabbed for another silver knife and threw it at his head. Prometheus whirled around and knocked the knife out of the air with the object he had grabbed. Changing Storm appeared in my hand as Prometheus brought his weapon into the light. My blood ran cold as I realized what he was holding. The weapon was a scythe, a five foot long blade connected to a six foot tall staff. The blade was made of two metals, Celestial Bronze and mortal steel. I recognized the weapon all too well. Kronos' Scythe. "Where did you get that?" I whispered. "I destroyed that scythe five years ago!" My voice rose to a roar again. "Let's just say I "borrowed" it from a certain individual who, for the time being, shall remain nameless." Prometheus mused. "But you have bigger problems to deal with right now." He raised the scythe over his head and began chanting. I grabbed Changing Storm and began blasting Prometheus with powerful gusts of wind and bolts of lightning. To my horror they just glanced off him as he continued to chant. I drew my arm back and my staff grew a large, razor sharp spearhead. Before I could spear him like a wild boar, he swung the scythe. There was a tearing sound and a feeling like someone had opened a door on an airplane. A large spiraling, blue hole had appeared between me and Prometheus. I could feel my self being pulled toward the tear in the fabric of space and time. I tried to steady myself against the gravitational pull but suddenly Prometheus was behind me. "Say hello to you ancestors for me." And punched me in the face. I saw stars and fell head first into the portal. Category:SonOfZeus1200 Category:Days of Boom Category:The Olympian League